“Alma!” the young woman in the sapphire-blue top chastised with a swat of her hand and a roll of her eyes in clear disgust. “She’s dead, for the Lord’s sake. Don’t speak ill of her.”
Tansy was instantly on alert, notepad and pen in hand, her eyes like blue chips of ice. “And you are?” she asked the tall woman.
The woman crossed her arms over her chest and sucked in her cheeks as though she were insulted Tansy didn’t know exactly who she was. “Alma Zon, honey. The name’s Alma Zon. Just like it sounds.”
“Holy caterpillars. That’s Alma Zon,” Coop hissed in my ear with excitement. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice her earlier.”
“I can’t either,” I whispered back. “She’s got to be at least six-six in those heels.”
Coop nodded her head. “Six-seven, to be precise. She’s a famous drag queen and makeup guru like Mitzy. Maybe not as famous as Mitzy, but pretty well-known in drag queen circles and on the YT. She chose the name Alma Zon as a riff on the word Amazon because she’s so tall.”
Ah. Now it all made sense. “And her friend? Is she a famous drag queen, too?”
Coop squinted her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. “Her name is Octavia, and no. She’s not a drag queen. She’s a lifestyle/drama vlogger and the force behind Dish and Makeup, but she’s friends with Alma, and she’s also sort of friendly with Mitzy, or as friendly as you can be with what’s essentially a gossip columnist.”
I bit my lower lip, but couldn’t help but wonder out loud, “Do you think Alma Zon represents the kind of friends Mitzy had? Because Jim Dandy, she didn’t seem very friendly when she was talking about Margot’s responsibilities. In fact, she seemed quite vexed.”
Coop sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “If you listen to the drama vloggers, Margot and Alma are good friends. It would stand to reason she’d defend her friend if Mitzy’s as much of a tyrant as Alma made her sound. Though, Alma and Mitzy did have beef that was sus, but it was a long time ago.”
My brow furrowed in confusion. “Beef that was sus?”
Honest, sometimes I don’t know who my Coop is evolving into. As much as I loved her new zest for living her best life, I think I’m going to need a key to reference for all the new slang she’s learned.
“It means a gripe between two people and it was suspect,” Oz said, tipping his hat at us both with a quick smile. “Sorry to eavesdrop, but I know a little slang because of my niece.”
Aha. Interesting. I’d ask Coop later if she knew what the beef was between Alma and Mitzy, but in the meantime, Margot needed my help and that’s what I did best.
I patted Oz on the arm. “Thanks for the slang interpretation, Oz. Good to see you again, and thanks for those donations to the shelter. Solomon loves that sweater you donated. Anyway, sorry we’re seeing each other under these circumstances.” Then I turned to Tansy, a question in my eyes. “May I?” I asked and hitched my jaw at Margot.
She bounced her bleached-blonde head, her lips a thin line. “Please do, love. While you do that, I’m going to help canvas. It’s a bloody madhouse in here, innit? So many kiddies.” She scanned the crowd, now separated by the rest of her officers into manageable groups.
“It sure is. Anyway, good luck. I’ll touch base with you once I have a little more information, okay?”
Tansy patted me on the shoulder and nodded. “Good deal. See you in a bit.”
Margot, who was sitting on the floor still in a shell-shocked heap, cried in earnest, fat tears coursing down her blushed cheeks. I knelt beside her and offered her my hand as Coop stooped on her haunches to gather the belongings of her purse someone had evidently located for her.
“Margot? Please let me help you up. Maybe we’ll get a bit of water and talk?”
But Margot shook her head vehemently, throwing her hands up in defeat and sobbing with a squeaky voice, “Where did all the EpiPens go? I always have two in my purse for her, and she always carries one, as well. Where is her purse? Oh, my God, I can’t believe this is happening! I failed her! And where is everyone? Where’s my team? How could we have let this happen?”
Her team? I guess in light of the fact that Mitzy was a much bigger deal than I’d originally anticipated, a team made sense, but I’d have to look deeper into what that meant that later. For now, I needed to get Margot together so we could talk.
I ignored her comments and cocked my head, offering my hand to her once again. “Please, Margot. My name is Trixie Lavender, and if you’ll let me, I’d like to help. Now, let’s get up off the floor and move somewhere more comfortable, okay?”
This time, Margot actually looked at me, her blue eye finally focusing in on my face. She took my hand and allowed me to pull her up as the crowd around us diminished and the officers turned chaos into a modicum of peace. While they busied themselves blocking off the scene, I pulled Margot toward a chair at one of the high-topped tables.
She slumped into the chair, her pretty blue eyes red-rimmed, but her makeup remarkably smudge-free. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she took a water bottle Coop had somehow managed to get her hands on and some tissues I’d dug out of my purse.
“Margot?” I asked softly. “Can you tell me what happened?”
She took in a shuddering breath and dabbed at her eyes. “I don’t know. I swear, I don’t know. She took a quick break and then she came back. One minute she was fine and shakin’ hands, and the next she was falling off the stage. I
